Willosaur

Willosaur
Creator	Will Wright
Biological classification
Diet	Carnivore
Environment	Fields
Physical characteristics
Locomotion	Tripedal
Sociocultural characteristics
Homeworld	Tamaran

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The Willosaur (also known as Tripod, Willosaurus, or just Main Character) was a tripedal, carnivorous creature showcased by Will Wright at the Game Developers' Conference in 2005. Originally nameless, fans quickly began to refer to the creature thus, combining "Will" with "-saur" (a suffix meaning "lizard", often used in names of dinosaurs) referring to its creator and its similarity to a dinosaur.

The dominant culture of Willosaurs live on their home planet Tamaran, a Dr. Seuss-style city with multi-colored, rounded buildings. They also retained some of their creator's humor in the Space Stage, where their old enemies were dropped onto the nearby planet Frore, which has no atmosphere; thus, the creature exploded.

Although the Willosaur was not the first creature ever created in Spore (the first-ever was the Debug Squid), it is the first to ever be fully used and go through every stage of the game. The GDC video has a full gameplay footage of the Willosaur on YouTube.

History

Before 2005

The Willosaur was created on March 11, 2005, at the Game Developer's Conference, started its evolution in the aquatic world as a cell, then a mosasaur-looking creature, and quickly and ultimately evolved into the modern incarnation. Its spine shifted up, and a prehensile hand was attached to the end of its tail. The two flippers became legs, and a new front leg appeared on the chest. The creatures eventually developed sentience in the Tribal Stage, and were seen performing a "spear-dance" to applause from the GDC audience. The Willosaurs developed technology early, possibly attributable to Will Wright's likely possession of a debugger.

Later 2008

The Creature Stage Unlocked Achievement.

As of today's Spore, Willosaurs are nowhere to be found as a creature in the Sporepedia. However, they appear mostly as an "Easter egg" throughout the game. The Creature Stage Unlocked achievement has an icon of a Willosaur, and it also appears in the Spore Glyphics. Two creatures created by Maxis also resemble a Willosaur very closely; these go by the names of Tripod Neuvo and Mini-tri.

Gallery

Willosaur as a cellular organism.

Willosaur in the Creature Stage, being pursued by a Tick.

Willosaur in the Tribal Stage.

Willosaur

Concept art of Willosaur variants by Christian Scheurer

A render of the Aquatic Willosaur, or as it's referred to in GonzagoGL's files "swimmingtripod", edited to have its mouth open.

A render of the Aquatic Willosaur's model as seen from the GonzagoGL prototype

The Willosaur in its glyphic form

A Willosaur appears in the Spore introduction cinematic.

A 2006 icon of a Willosaur for the old Spore homepage representing 'Creature Phase'.

Trivia

• Willosaur is a popular creation for creators in Spore to try to recreate.
• The Willosaur has been dubbed by fans as the unofficial mascot of Spore, and prominently "stars" in the first official trailer, seen in the Cell, Creature and Tribal Stages.
  • It is unknown why they disappear near the end of the official trailer